U.S. Navy Acting Secretary Hung Cao was said to have made a “stunning admission” regarding the deeply unpopular U.S. war against Iran in an interview that was previewed Thursday.
Journalist Ryan Morgan of the conservative outlet The Epoch Times revealed Thursday that he had interviewed Cao, and previewed some of Cao’s remarks in a social media post on X.
“In an exclusive interview, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao told me that Iranian forces ‘blew the hell out of Bahrain,’” Morgan wrote.
“While open-source analyses have long indicated that the U.S. Fifth Fleet Headquarters at Naval Support Activity Bahrain sustained extensive damage in the early days of the Iran conflict, Cao's comment represents a direct and high-level acknowledgment of the matter.”
Past reporting has confirmed that the U.S. Navy base in Bahrain — a relatively small island country near Qatar and Saudi Arabia that sits in the Persian Gulf — was “repeatedly targeted” with Iranian strikes in the early days of the conflict. U.S. military officials, however, have claimed that no Americans were killed and that the damage did not “significantly impact operations,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
Cao’s admission, however, appears to suggest the strikes may have been more damaging than the U.S. military had previously admitted, Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin suggested.
“This is a pretty stunning admission by the Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, whose nomination is hung up in Congress, about how Iranian forces ‘blew the hell out of (US Navy’s 5th Fleet base in) Bahrain,’” Griffin wrote in a social media post on X. “Haven’t heard a senior US official admit this on the record until now.”
As previously noted by the Journal, the damage to the U.S. base in Bahrain was so significant that some “structures that were attacked may not be rebuilt.”
“Pentagon officials have frustrated lawmakers by declining to discuss the cost of the U.S. damage with Congress,” the Journal previously reported.
“In response to a request for comment, the Pentagon pointed to remarks made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Capitol Hill. Pressed for an estimate at a May congressional hearing, Hegseth replied: ‘What is the cost of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon?’”
This is a pretty stunning admission by the Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, whose nomination is hung up in Congress, about how Iranian forces “blew the hell out of (US Navy’s 5th Fleet base in) Bahrain.” Haven’t heard a senior US official admit this on the record until now. See… https://t.co/NMaxkhVOrh
— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) September 10, 2026